BLM struggles to justify hydraulic fracturing regulations

Published 8:09 am, Friday, September 6, 2013

By Alex Mills

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is a part of the U.S. Interior Department, has a new director, Sally Jewell, who is trying to explain to the oil and gas industry the reason it has to regulate hydraulic fracturing when state regulators have been successfully regulating the industry for decades.

Jewell, who recently replaced longtime Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, stated back in May when she was being confirmed that fracturing has been done safely since 1950.

"I know there are those who say fracking is dangerous and should be curtailed, full stop," she said. "That ignores the reality that it has been done safely for decades and has the potential for developing significant domestic resources and strengthening our economy and will be done for decades to come."

Even her predecessor Salazar told the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 that, "My point of view, based on my own study of hydraulic fracking, is that it can be done safely and has been done safely hundreds of thousands of times."

Lisa Jackson, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Obama, stated several times that EPA had no evidence of water contamination caused by fracturing. "I'm not aware of any proven case where (hydraulic fracturing) itself has affected water," she stated on Fox News on May 24, 2011.

So, why is the BLM proceeding with a massive rulemaking that puts the federal government as the primary regulator of oil and gas activities on federal lands, especially when BLM is short on staff?

The answer? Politics.

President Obama "owes" the liberal environmental groups for getting him elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. More than a dozen environmental groups helped fund his campaign, advocated to their members to support Obama, and worked hard to get out the vote.

These environmental groups have not given up on their agenda to stop all usage of fossil fuels even if it means wrecking the national economy in the process.

The BLM has a difficult time rationalizing the fact that they have drafted a massive new regulation that covers something that doesn't exist.

The regulations could have a massive impact on crude oil and natural gas production on federal lands and beyond in the future.

The public comment period for the regulations closed recently, and the Interior Department now must cull through hundreds of thousands of comments before finalizing the rule, which will likely take place in 2014. The regulation is made up of three primary elements: Disclosing the chemicals used in fracking; ensuring wells are constructed soundly; and making sure that wastewater is managed safely after the fracking process, which are all required under current state rules.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America submitted comments to BLM asking the federal agency to eliminate requirements that (1) do not have a sound technical foundation, (2) reduce the overlap with state and tribal requirements, and (3) balance costs and benefits.

"Sixteen months into the rulemaking process, BLM remains unable to provide a supportable reason to impose its additional layer of regulations on top of those laws states already enforce," the national organization that represents independent oil and gas producers wrote.

IPAA estimates that the new rules will add $345 million in compliance costs each year.

IPAA's comments on behalf of itself and 38 other state and regional oil and gas associations pointed out that the only imperative to adopt this rule is an arbitrary desire "to do something."

"The associations oppose the rule because each of the reasons BLM suggests for adopting the rule is without basis in fact," IPAA stated.

Alex Mills is president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. The opinions expressed are solely of the author.